Trump pays his respects to a pope who publicly and pointedly disagreed
with him, meets Zelenskyy
[April 26, 2025]
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE
ROME (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday paid his respects to Pope
Francis, joining more than 50 heads of state and other dignitaries at
the funeral of a pontiff who pointedly disagreed with him on a variety
of issues. Trump also had a brief meeting with Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Both the White House and Zelenskyy's office confirmed the meeting, the
first face-to-face conversation between Trump and the Ukrainian leader
since the two, along with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, argued during a
heated Oval Office meeting in late February.
White House communications director Steven Cheung said the leaders “met
privately today and had a very productive discussion" and that more
details would follow. Zelenskyy's spokesperson, Serhii Nykyforov, said
they met for about 15 minutes at St. Peter's Basilica and agreed to
continue negotiations later Saturday. Teams were working to organize the
follow-up conversation.
Trump arrived at the Vatican with his wife, first lady Melania Trump,
and was seated in the front row, not far from French President Emmanuel
Macron, for the outdoor service.
Trump told reporters on Friday as he flew to Rome that he was going to
the funeral “out of respect” for the pontiff, who died Monday after
suffering a stroke at the age of 88.
Francis sharply disagreed with Trump's approach on issues including
immigration, the treatment of migrants and climate change. The Argentine
pontiff and the American president sparred early in their relationship
over immigration. In 2016, Francis, alluding to then-candidate Trump and
his campaign slogan of "Build the wall," called anyone who builds a wall
to keep out migrants “ not Christian.” Trump said the comment was
“disgraceful.”
But after Francis' death, the Republican president praised him as a
“good man” who “worked hard” and “loved the world.” Trump also directed
that U.S. flags be flown at half-staff in Francis' honor.
Trump had said on a couple of occasions before leaving Washington that
he would have “a lot” of meetings with counterparts on the sidelines of
the funeral. But he seemed to back away from that as he flew to Rome.
“Frankly, it's a little disrespectful to have meetings when you're at
the funeral of a pope,” the president told reporters accompanying him
aboard Air Force One. Nonetheless, Trump said: “I'll be talking to
people. I'll be seeing a lot of people.”
One person Trump didn't expect to interact with is former President Joe
Biden, a practicing Roman Catholic who attended with his wife, Jill.
Biden, wearing his signature aviator sunglasses was seated several rows
behind Trump, who had said he didn't know his Democratic predecessor
would be at the funeral. Asked if they'd meet, Trump said: “It’s not
high on my list. It’s really not.”
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President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive for the
funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican,
Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Trump, meanwhile, drew the public's attention for wearing a dark
blue suit and a lighter blue tie in a sea of mournful black attire.
The pope's funeral is not one of those occasions that bring together
the current and former U.S. presidents. Former Presidents Barack
Obama and George W. Bush were not attending, their offices said. A
spokesperson for former President Bill Clinton did not respond to an
inquiry about his plans.
Trump didn't elaborate when asked if he’d just be meeting with
leaders in passing or holding more in-depth talks. He noted that his
stay in Rome would be short.
“It’s a little tough because we don’t have much time," he said.
Trump arrived late Friday and was scheduled to head back to the
United States immediately after the funeral.
“I think that we’re going to try and see a couple of people that are
important in what we’re doing," said Trump, who is working to broker
a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and negotiate trade
agreements with multiple countries.
After Trump was shown to his seat for the funeral, he was
immediately followed out of St. Peter's Basilica by Zelenskyy, who
was met with a burst of applause from the audience.
Trump posted on Truth Social shortly after arriving in Rome that
Ukraine and Russia should meet for “very high level talks” on ending
the bloody three-year war sparked by Russia's invasion. His envoy,
Steve Witkoff, had met earlier Friday with Russian President
Vladimir Putin, and Trump said both sides were “very close to a
deal.” Putin did not attend the funeral.
Trump's meeting Saturday with Zelenskyy also came shortly after
Trump issued his most definitive statement yet about the need for
Ukraine to give up territory to Russia to bring the war to a close.
He said in a Time magazine interview published Friday that “Crimea
will stay with Russia.”
Russia seized the strategic peninsula along the Black Sea in
southern Ukraine in 2014, years before the full-scale invasion that
began in 2022. Zelenskyy wants to regain Crimea and other Ukrainian
territory seized by Russia, but that demand has become a sticking
point for Trump.
Referring to Crimea during the interview, which was conducted at the
White House on Tuesday, Trump said, “everybody understands that it’s
been with them for a long time.”
——
Associated Press journalist Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine,
contributed to this report.
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